Sinking hydraulic piles



(No Model.) 4 L. E. BLAKE,

SINKING HYDRAULIC FILES.

- No. 325,484. Patented Sept. 1, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOYVELL EVERETT BLAKE, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

SINKING HYDRAULIC PILES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.325,484, dated September 1, 1885.

Application filed September 11, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOWELL E. BLAKE, of El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented certain new and use- 1" n1 Improvements in Sinking Hydraulic Piles, of which the following is a full, clear, and em act description.

The object of my invention is the sinking of wooden or other piles in quicksand or ground in which the lateral pressure upon the piles practically prevents their being driven beyond a certain depth. To that end I make use of a jet of water supplied at the entering-point of the pile, and in connection therewith I also use weight applied at the upper end of the pile, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of my improved apparatus, showing the same in operation. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of one of the piles. Fig. 4 is a detail section showing a modification.

The frame of the apparatus is constructed substantially the same as an ordinary piledriver, with a weight, a, fitted to slide in standards I) b, so that it can be used for driving the pile to a certain extent, if desired. The lower end of the pile c is to be tapered and shod with a shoe or nipple, 0, having an aperture at its point, and into the end of the pile for a short distance is bored a hole, 0 that connects at any suitable depth with a cross-aperture, c thatis fitted with an Lcoupling, d. To the coupling (Z is connected an iron pipe, 0, extending to near the top of the pile, where a flexible pipe, f, is coupled to the pipe 6. The flexible pipe f is to be connected with a pump for supplying water under sufficient pressure.

In some instances the nipple 0' may be dispensed with.

In the operation of the apparatus water supplied through the pipes f e is discharged in a jet at the entering end of the pile, with the effect to loosen the sand and earth so as to make room for the pile to settle. The water after its escape will follow up the sides of the (No model.)

pile to the surface of the ground, thereby loosening the sand or relieving the pressure upon the pile, so that it sinks more readily. As soon as the water is shut off the sand or earth settles closely against the pile and holds it as firmly as if it had been driven. In this operation the sinking of the pile is facilitated by the weight a resting upon'its top. After the pile has been sunk to the desired depth the hose-pipe is to be disconnected and the pipe 0 unscrewed from the coupling d and withdrawn.

The water may be supplied through a hole bored the whole length of the pile or through any desired portion of the length; or it may be supplied, as shown in Fig. 4, by a pipe bent to pass beneath the lower end of the pile, and provided with a jet-nozzle instead of passing through an aperture in the pile itself. I do not limit myself in these particulars.

The apparatus may be used for driving piles in quicksand or any ground either above or below water.

I am aware that a pile has been provided with a shoe into which a water-supply pipe is secured; and I am also aware that a pile has been provided with a water-supply pipe, the said pipe being held in a groove at the lower end of the pile, and I therefore do not claim such invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination, with a pile tapered at its lower end and provided with the hole 0 and cross-aperture c of the elbow d and pipe 6, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with a pile tapered at its lower end and provided with the hole 0 and crossaperture c of the nipple c, elbow d, and pipe 6, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with a pile tapered at its lower end and provided with the hole a and cross-aperture 0 of the elbow d, pipe 0, and weight a, substantially as shown and described.

LOWELL EVERETT BLAKE.

\Vitnesses:

J O. BEATTY, Josnrn SWEENEY. 

